Gone too Soon

A young women is left with her little brother after their mom is in an accident. Thanks to the other driver, they are left without their mother.

Submitted: November 15, 2016

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Submitted: November 15, 2016

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I always hated driving at night, my mom is a good driver, but it is always scary because it is dark out and hard to see. We always go to my aunt’s house on Thursday nights for dinner ever since my
grandparents have passed away. It has been a couple of years but it is always hard, especially for my mom. My mom has been on her own while caring for us, my father left us when Beau was only 1
year old. It is really hard on her, so I try to help her out every chance I get.

“Do you want to drive home tonight, Samantha?” my mom asked me as we said goodbye and walked out of the door.

“Not tonight, I’m leaving for college this weekend, I will be doing enough driving then,” I told her. This weekend I’m going to
college, it will be my first year but I’m still excited. I don’t want to leave my mom and brother, but I have dreams that I want to pursue. It’s located on the other side of the state, so it’s not
far but it still isn’t that close.

“Okay, Sweetie. Your brother and I are going to miss you so much,” she said happily but with tears swelling up in her eyes.

“Mom, I will call you at least twice a day, you guys can visit all you want and I will come home every chance that I get,” I told
her trying to make her feel a little better.

As we put on our seat belts and my mom put the car in drive, we never knew what was going to happen on our way home. Our drive
home usually takes forty five minutes, but with all the twisty roads and it being dark, it sometimes takes a little longer. Also, they aren’t very busy and not a lot of cars travel down them so we
don’t have to worry about traffic. The headlights of the car showed all of the leaves patted down on the road.

“Watch out!” I screamed as deer leaped in front of the vehicle. My heart was pounding after that. I looked back and saw Beau sound
asleep. We waited a minute or two to make sure that there were no more deer that had to cross the road. As the moon rose into the night sky, we continued on our journey home. I eventually fell
asleep.

I woke up to the sound of sirens and lots of noise, I wasn’t home but it also didn’t look like I was in the car. I thought it was
a dream, but I couldn’t get myself to wake up. There were two cars twisted in each other, blood, and a people surrounding the scene. I knew it was bad, I was put into an ambulance, and there were
four of them. They didn’t say anything about what happened and how Beau and my mom are, it also didn’t help that I was going in and out of consciousness.

Eventually, I was awake I didn’t know what day it was, where I was, or even what happened. My aunt was by my side, she told me
everything, and we were in an accident. I only had a concussion, I asked about Beau, he was alright, just a couple of broken bones and a concussion. I asked about Mom, my aunt broke out in tears,
she didn’t survive. I didn’t know what was going to happen to us, I didn’t even know what cause of all of this was. I started to cry, I was lost without my mom. I went to back to sleep, hoping I
would wake up and it all be a dream. What were we going to tell Beau?

“You can take care of him if you want, or have a family member,” my aunt told me, “you are over eighteen. But that’s up to you.”

“This is all too overwhelming for me to figure out right now,” I said not wanting to realize that this isn’t a dream anymore. I
never thought in a million years that my family would have to go through such a thing.

A doctor walked into the room, “the police have to come in and have you tell them what happened. Do you think that you’re
ready?”

I didn’t really know what happened, but I guess I could tell them everything I remembered, “Sure, I guess.”

Two police officers gently walked into the room and asked me the basic questions.

“Do you know who caused the accident?” A young police officer asked.

“I fell asleep and wasn’t awake for it. We were on our way back from my aunts,” I told them, trying to keep it together. “Who else
was involved?” I asked them, I wanted to know. I hope they survived it. I don’t want another family to go through what mine is going through.

“There was a young man, whose name is Toby, was involved. We haven’t been able to talk to him yet. He is in a coma,” another
police officer said.

I wasn’t sure of what to say, but I all I wanted to know is who caused the accident.

“Who caused the accident, my mom or the other man?” I needed to know.

“We aren’t sure, but we have evidence from the scene and it looks more like the other person,” the young police officer told me.

I told them I didn’t have anything to tell them, I honestly did not want to hear anymore. This is one of the hardest things I’ve
gone through and I don’t have anyone to help. My aunt couldn’t do anything and we don’t have any other family. We do have people in my dad’s family, but we don’t talk to any of them. That’s another
story for another time.

A doctor looked in the room, “we have everything done, and you may go home tomorrow.”

Where am I going to go? How is Beau? How do we tell him? Does he know? Thoughts filled my head for hours. I didn’t want to face
reality. The thought of being alone scared me just as much as the thought of losing my mom.

The day that I was leaving came, I got to see Beau for the first time. He smiled when I walked into the room, his smile made me
smile for the first time since everything happened. I asked if he knew, they said he didn’t. How was I going to tell him?

“What happened,” he said with an upset look on his face.

“We were in an accident,” tears started to swell in my eyes. “Mom didn’t make it,” I hugged him tight, tears fell on his back. I
could hear little sniffles, I never wanted to tell my little brother something like this.

“He can go home today too,” a doctor told me, seeing how heartbroken the two of us were.

“Thank you,” I said, with the tiniest smile I could get on my face. I think it will be good to be home, but I also think that it
will be really hard for the both of us. I’m soon realizing that I cannot go to college now, I will have to go to the one closest to our home. Unless I wanted to move my brother across the state
after our mother just died, which I don’t. Right now we need our family and friends. I don’t even want to move.

“What are we going to do now?” Beau said with sniffles.

I wanted to tell him that I had a plan, but I did, I would be lying, “I’m not sure yet.” I could feel him hug a little tighter.

Our aunt gave us a ride home, the house was cold and it felt empty. I knew our mom was there with us, she always will be. The
police said they will get in touch with us and let us know what’s going on and about Toby – the guy who was also involved in the accident. I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep tonight.

The next day I woke up to the sound of a phone ringing, it was the police. They asked if we could go to their office because it
would be easier for them to give us all of the information. I was extremely nervous. I woke my brother up, got us ready and drove down (luckily I had my own vehicle.)

When we got there, they helped us get to where we needed to be. They said Beau should wait in the waiting so he sat out there. He
started to explain to me.

“After doing tests on your mother and the other driver, we discovered that your mom was not under the influence of alcohol but the
other driver was,” he told me.

I couldn’t believe that someone else drinking and driving was the reason my mom died. A drunk driver caused me to lose the most
important woman in my life. You would think that the driver would know that drinking and driving is deleterious, especially since he has a record. I never wanted to face that man.
I sat there with a blank look on my face, a look of shock and sadness.

“I’m so sorry, we will be starting a case as soon as he wakes up and we get all of the information that he knows. But I also
called you two down here to ask what’s going on about Beau. You can take care of him yourself or have a family member do it. It is up to you since you are over 18,” he told me.

“Should I ask him what he would rather do or should I decide for him?” I didn’t want to upset or hurt him anymore than what he
already is, I just want to do what is best for him. Currently, I don’t even know what is best for me.

“You should decide, you know him better than anyone else,” he said trying to help me decide. “Right now you are his legal
guardian.”

I couldn’t figure this out right now, “I will let you know in the next couple of days.”

His phone starting ringing, he looked at me with huge eyes, the man who killed my mother, has woken up. He started to pack everything up and rushed out of the station. I got my stuff, grabbed Beau
and we headed home. He kept asking what was going on with everything and why we had to go there today. I didn’t want to tell him everything, so I just said it will be okay. I wish that when we got
in the accident my mom had an aegis on, then maybe she would still be here with us. I’m not very candor with Beau but I want to think I’m doing what’s best for
him. There is so many things that we are facing that I just wish that our mom was here to help us through it. I am smart but I am not an erudite who probably knows how to handle a
situation like this a little better than me. I can’t even make myself dinner let alone another one who is very picky. I think Beau would be happier with me than our other family. We don’t have much
and our one aunt already has five kids, so I think he might be stuck with me.

The next day I woke up to a loud knocking on the front door. I walked out slowly to see two people, the police again. I opened it, they walked in, we sat down, and they started talking.

A tall man, who was not the normal officer I talk to put down his coffee and said, “now that the other victim has woken up and we started the case, tell us why you feel like you are the victim and
need justice.”

I wasn’t sure what they wanted me to say, “I just want justice for my mom and family.”

“Ok, that sounds good. We will call you when there is news,” the tall man said.

They left and it was already lunchtime, I woke up Beau and made his favorite breakfast, chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream
on top. My aunt was planning the funeral so I didn’t have to do much. For the rest of the day, we went to Beaus school and got his missing work, then I made phone calls to the college I was going
to attend. I researched schools near where we live and applied to them. I was praying I would get an email, letter, or phone call from one them. It was a very lazy day and something much needed.
Shortly before I went to bed, I received a call from the police. They talked about the other man and his condition, they said that they will get what he remembers from it tomorrow and that the next
week we should have our first court trial.

After that week, nothing much happened between then. But earlier today they called and had it scheduled for Thursday, two days
from now. They told me that I didn’t have to get anything ready just to be there on time. They also said that they had everything covered and it will be quick.

On the day of the trial, I got there and they introduced me to everyone. I was nervous, I didn’t know what to expect, it was
simple, I walked up told them what happened and then the other driver did. They found him guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol and he was sentenced to a couple years in jail and they
took away his license. I was happy the way everything worked out.

“Thank you,” I said to everyone on our side as I left. Beau wasn’t there for it, so after everything, I went to pick him up from
school. He decided he would go back today, it was hard for him but he’s strong and has wonderful friends and teachers that will help him get through it.

It doesn’t matter that we won, we still lost our mother and that will be something that I personally will never be able to get
over. I hope that no one would ever have to go through the things that Beau and I had to go through. It was one worst experiences ever.